Police are investigating why the dolls are appearing in public places without any explanation

Published Aug 15, 2019 at 8:19 PM

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Some of them are headless, others are resting in strange places and all of them are creepy.

The city of Festus in Jefferson County, Missouri, has had multiple instances in the past week of eerie dolls popping up in random places without any explanation and residents haven't the faintest clue of who put them there.

One was spotted looking like it was crying against a pole, another was laid out on the ground without a head, and another one was found hanging from a light pole on a main road Tuesday. All of this with Halloween still months away.

Festus Chief of Police Tim Lewis told NBC affiliate KSDK that the department is investigating after multiple people reported being spooked by the dolls. He added that a person called out of concern that one of the dolls was a child on the side of the road.

According to Lewis, the police believe it's probably just the work of a prankster but do not know who is behind the doll placements. As soon as the dolls have appeared, they have often quickly disappeared.

Lewis and Festus Captain Doug Wendel were not immediately available for comment on Thursday, a spokesperson told TODAY.

"Somebody thinks it's funny, somebody thinks it's cute, it's all fun and games until somebody stops, thinking it's a child in distress, and gets hit trying to help out,'' Wendel told MyMoInfo.com. "So whoever's doing it, we know you think it's fun and games, but it could be a very dangerous situation."

There also has been a doll sighting in neighboring Crystal City, KSDK reported.

The weird scenes of unnerving, mutilated dolls like something out of "Annabelle" bring to mind the 2016 sightings of adults dressed like creepy clowns that happened across several states.